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Unlike many worlds’ cultures where “demon” carries a notion of inherent malice and evil, the general use of the term in Amala is to describe any supernatural being, from ghosts to gods. This is not, however, an implication of total benevolence. Whether through a Blob’s mindless feeding frenzy, or a Pixie’s thoughtlessly cruel trickery, or an Archangel’s intolerant zealotry, demons of all stripes can bring great harm to humans and each other. Of course, they’re just as capable of equally great help; the same Blob might instead show undying devotion to its friends, the same Pixie could instead bring welcome cheer in even the bleakest of situations, and the same Archangel can instead be a beacon of justice and kindness. Much like humans, the location and culture shape their outlooks.

Physiologically speaking, demons are impossible. They require no physical nutrition; even breathing is unnecessary. While some of them bleed, they don’t require blood to live. Their regenerative powers are easily a miracle in and of themselves. Their bodies can consist entirely of inorganic materials, pay no attention to the rules of mass and density, and even their shapes are often mutable. Because of this, they are distinct from organic life, but are a form of life all the same.

Their nutrition is metaphysical; they feed on the energy created by strong emotion, called Magatsuhi. This energy has different tastes, depending on the emotion that created it. Depending on the demon’s nature, they will act to coax different tastes out of humans they encounter; an oni would generally attack humans and feed on their pain and fear, while an angel would help humans in exchange for devotion and faith. Of course, it’s also possible (though unlikely) that an oni will feed on pain seasoned with hope by working with disaster and medical relief groups, or that an angel will brainwash humans into worshipping it.

Reproduction and growth are directly tied to the consumption of Magatsuhi. A well-fed demon will grow more and more powerful, though not necessarily bigger. In cases of a glut of Magatsuhi (most often by feeding from the Amala Network), most demons will split after feeding, spawning weaker copies to bleed off the excess. These copies are more or less identical, but are less powerful than their original and act of their own volition. Sometimes, demons will either refuse or prove incapable of this spawning. In their case, any absorbed Magatsuhi will cause them to continue to grow in power and size, rendering them giant versions of their usual selves. These demons, whether by growing drunk on power or by their own design, will often rampage, seeking to destroy anything near them.

One thing that demons can’t really do is completely die. Unlike humans, it’s impossible for their souls to fully merge with the flow of the Amala Network, and thus it’s impossible for them to reincarnate in a different form. Because of this, it’s impossible for demons to attain enlightenment and escape from the material world. As useful as this immortality may seem to outsiders (a demon’s agelessness means an eternal companion, and their immortality means that it’s a fairly simple matter to call one back from death), it’s why demons are often considered cursed.

Like humans, demons are capable of changing their habits. However, true to the saying, change takes time. Considering that most demons have lived for many thousands of centuries, many of their habits are very deeply ingrained, and changing them would take further centuries of effort. A prime example of this happening would be the goddess Ishtar. Being lost to madness for many years as Astaroth before being rescued by the human Messiah showed her the error of her arrogance and petulance. If old disciples were to see her now, they would marvel at the difference in attitude.

The other main way that demons might change is through fusion, which is possible only because of the composition of their souls. The spiritual matter that composes the core of all demons is universal - nuances aside, most demon souls can be melded with other demon souls through the rituals of demon fusion. This creates an amalgamation of the component demons’ personalities, with the strongest personality remaining dominant, and the body following arcane and largely unresearched rules. As horrifying as such a process may seem to humans, most demons seem to treat fusion with a mixture of the attitudes humans have towards immunizations or working out. While uncomfortable, it’s a way for them to change and grow stronger, and any fear they have is born more out of unfamiliarity than anything else.

This difference between demons and humans can also lead to some cruelties unwittingly or carelessly inflicted. In the beginnings of human and demon contact, the mutability and resilience of demon bodies left many of them with a lack of understanding of human physiology or psychology. This led some curious demons to experiment on humans, often with gruesome and traumatizing results, erroneously believing that humans had comparable levels of toughness and pain tolerance, or completely misunderstanding human emotion. Other demons saw the weakness of humans and regarded them as playthings, similarly to how humans would look at ants. Yet others saw or experienced similar experiments perpetrated by cruel or uncomprehending humans on demons and decided to reply in kind.

As the cultural exchange between humans and demons has increased, however, this lack of understanding has gradually disappeared, to the point that humans and demons live comfortably together in certain worlds, most notably the Sea of Binah. There are still some isolated pockets of xenophobia in Amala, but for the most part demons and humans are each accustomed enough to the other’s presence that misunderstandings are rare.